Grupo Dunas Capital has announced the appointment of Natividad Sierra as Managing Director and Chief of Investor Relations for the firm’s alternative assets division. In her new role, she will be responsible for leading the fundraising processes for the firm’s alternative asset vehicles and managing investor relations. Additionally, she will join the Group’s Executive Committee.
With this appointment, Grupo Dunas Capital is once again focusing on the development and consolidation of its real assets business line. The firm advises several alternative asset vehicles that invest long-term in transport assets, as well as in impact projects, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. “It is an honor to join the team at Grupo Dunas Capital, a company built on strong values that has experienced exceptional growth since its creation, thanks to its unique business model, philosophy, products, and a highly professional team. In this new phase, I will continue to develop strategic, long-term relationships with investors, who will find in our product catalog a unique value offering in Spain,” said Natividad Sierra, the newly appointed Managing Director and Chief of Investor Relations (Alternatives).
Natividad Sierra brings 30 years of experience in the financial sector, primarily in private equity, as well as in mergers and acquisitions and corporate banking. Prior to joining Grupo Dunas Capital, she was Head of Investor Relations & ESG at Corpfin Capital, one of the leading private equity firms in Spain, where she successfully led the fundraising efforts for several funds and oversaw the ESG function. She was a partner at the firm, Director of Investments, and a member of the Board of Directors of several companies. She began her career in corporate banking in the Structured Finance division at BNP Paribas and later worked as an Associate at Apax Partners, executing mergers and acquisitions.
Regarding her education, she holds a degree in Business Administration from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas ICADE and a degree in Law from UNED. Her executive education includes the General Management Program at IESE and the Executive Program in Senior Management, Promociona, at ESADE. Additionally, she is co-President of Level 20 in Spain, a non-profit organization that promotes gender diversity in the European private equity sector.
Mexico City surpassed São Paulo this year as the largest tech talent market in Latin America, according to CBRE’s annual report on these markets in the Americas.
The report analyzes Latin America’s tech talent markets based on total employment in the sector, five-year tech job growth, average salary growth in the sector, total numbers of tech graduates, and five-year growth in the number of tech graduates.
Mexico City has the largest tech workforce in the region, with 300,000 tech specialists. São Paulo, last year’s top-ranked market, has 240,227 professionals.
“Mexico City continues to grow as a tech hub, with a large number of tech graduates from the city’s top universities and affordable labor and real estate costs compared to many North American markets,” said Yazmín Ramírez, Senior Director of Labor Analytics and Client Consulting at CBRE Latam. “The city’s growing pool of tech labor continues to attract manufacturers, engineering firms, and other companies looking to bring operations back to Latin America from overseas,” she added.
CBRE’s 11th “Scoring Tech Talent” report ranks 75 cities in the U.S. and Canada based on multiple factors, including tech job growth, tech degree completions, labor and real estate costs, and millennial population, among others. The San Francisco Bay Area tops this year’s rankings, followed by Seattle and Toronto.
This is the fifth year CBRE has ranked Latin American markets in this report. The rankings are based solely on the size of each city’s tech talent workforce. The report also examines the average tech salary in each market and its five-year growth, the average office rent and its five-year growth, and the completion of tech degrees.
“The relevance of Latin America as a talent source in the Americas has expanded due to its proximity to the United States and Canada, the growing pool of tech talent, the cost-benefit ratio, the time zone, infrastructure, and tax benefits,” said the executive. “As a result, the region is now considered a well-established location that hosts a significant number of multinational tech companies,” she added.
Mexico City stood out in several other key areas in CBRE’s report:
– It produced more tech degree graduates in 2023 (24,050) than any other of the top 11 markets. The next closest was São Paulo with 15,972.
– The tech salary growth rate in the city over the past five years was 42%, higher than the average increase across the 11 markets (36%) and the U.S. (18%).
– It saw a 32% increase in software developer salaries since 2018, reaching $47,938 in 2023, surpassing Latin America’s growth rate (28%) over the same period.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE) is a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas. It is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2023 revenue). The company has over 130,000 employees (including Turner & Townsend staff) and serves clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE provides a wide range of services, including facilities, transaction, and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services; and development services.
AFP Planvital has a new leader at the helm, as announced to the market on Thursday. José Joaquín Prat Errázuriz, who previously served as General Manager of the pension fund administrator, has been appointed as the new CEO.
The company’s board made the decision during an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday afternoon, as disclosed in an essential statement to the Financial Market Commission (CMF). This marks the end of Andrea Battini’s five-year tenure as CEO.
According to his professional LinkedIn profile, Prat has 18 years of experience in the Chilean pension system. He joined Planvital in 2006 and has held various leadership roles in different corporate areas, including legal, compliance, and risk management. He assumed the role of General Manager in August 2019.
In addition to his law degree, Prat holds a master’s degree in corporate law from the University of the Andes.
Battini will remain with the company for the next few months. According to the letter sent by AFP Planvital to the regulator, he will continue providing services until November 30 of this year, acting as an advisor to the board and senior management to support the leadership transition.
The board of Planvital praised the “high professionalism, commitment, and track record” of the outgoing CEO during his time with the company.
Founded in 1981, at the dawn of Chile’s individual capitalization pension system, the company closed August of this year with an AUM (Assets Under Management) of $10.986 billion, according to information from the Superintendence of Pensions. This gave it a market share of 5.6% at that time.
Anta Asset Management, an independent firm belonging to Corporación Financiera Azuaga, has appointed Eduardo García-Oliveros as its new Director of Private Equity.
García-Oliveros brings over 10 years of experience in alternative markets, having worked at organizations such as Gala Capital, Nomura, and most recently, Alter Capital, where he served as Director of Investments and led the Madrid office.
Throughout his career, García-Oliveros has gained extensive expertise in alternative markets, with a particular focus on direct private equity investments and advising on mergers and acquisitions.
He holds a degree in Business Administration with International Honors Cum Laude from ICADE and Northeastern University (Boston).
Jacobo Anes, CEO of Anta Asset Management, emphasized the significance of this appointment. “Eduardo’s experience will help us strengthen our alternative investments line to tackle the upcoming projects. We aim to stand out in the industry as a manager offering unique and high-quality products,” he stated.
BBVA Group has taken a significant step by opening a new office in Houston, with the primary goal of leading the financing of the energy transition in the United States. This move aligns with BBVA’s growth plans in the U.S. and is integrated into its U.S. Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) operations.
The Spanish bank made the announcement during the inaugural edition of Houston Energy & Climate Week, an event sponsored by BBVA in Texas.
“America has a unique opportunity to lead the transition to a more sustainable global economy. Complementing and closely integrated with our operations in New York, the Houston representative office— the world’s energy transition capital—will play a key role in our sustainability strategy,” said Álvaro Aguilar, BBVA’s head of strategic projects in the U.S.
BBVA’s sustainability strategy in the U.S. focuses on supporting companies in the energy sector and those promoting sustainable development. This includes traditional renewable technologies, such as wind and solar, as well as emerging cleantech solutions. The strategy also involves assisting companies in transforming their business models toward more sustainable alternatives through financing and advisory solutions.
These initiatives will contribute to BBVA’s global goal of mobilizing $331.8 billion in sustainable business between 2018 and 2025, of which $278.7 billion had already been mobilized by June 2024.
The new BBVA office in Houston joins the bank’s existing teams specializing in cleantech financing, which are based in New York, London, and Madrid.
With its historic leadership in the energy sector, and home to over 4,700 energy-related companies, Houston is positioning itself as the global capital of the energy transition. The city is a leading hub for companies pioneering decarbonization solutions.
Additionally, Houston was recently selected as the base for BBVA Mexico’s nearshoring unit, and BBVA Mexico’s U.S. branch is already operating from Houston. By the end of 2025, BBVA’s Houston office is expected to employ approximately 100 people, making it a key growth center for the bank.
BNY has announced Alts BridgeSM, a comprehensive data, software, and services solution built to meet the growing demand from wealth intermediaries looking to access alternative and private market investment products, through a simplified end-to-end investment experience.
Designed to deeply integrate into intermediaries’ existing desktops, beginning with BNY Pershing X’s Wove advisory platform and NetX360+, with cutting-edge AI and analytics tools that are designed to reduce manual processing and error rates, Alts Bridge creates a powerful solution for investors, advisors, and the home office, the firm says.
The platform will provide access to alternative and private market asset managers from around the world, the selection including 26 North, AB CarVal, Alternatives by Franklin Templeton, Apollo, Atalaya, Aviva Investors, Blue Owl Capital, Carlyle, CIFC, Coller Capital, Crescent Capital, Eisler Capital, Generali, GoldenTree, Goldman Sachs, Hunter Point Capital, Invesco, KKR, Lexington Partners a Franklin Templeton Company, Lunate, Marathon Asset Management, Partners Group, Polen Capital, RCP Advisors, and Stormfield Capital.
“Powered by BNY’s data and technology, Alts Bridge will connect clients across the wealth ecosystem and alternative markets in a unique and more seamless way. As a firm that supports more than $2.6 trillion of wealth assets1 and has relationships with more than 500 leading alternative managers, we believe we are uniquely positioned to unlock this market,” said Akash Shah, Chief Growth Officer and Head of Growth Ventures at BNY. “We’re combining the breadth and depth of BNY’s distribution team with our expertise across investment management, advisory, securities services, wealth technology, and wealth custody and clearing, enabling Alts Bridge to provide a comprehensive solution to find, access, and custody alternative and private market assets.”
The platform will offer features across the pre-, at- and post-trade processes, including an advisor education and fund discovery center, home office and asset manager tools, product overviews, automated document preparation, simplified order entry, and integrated reporting and investment management capabilities, BNY adds.
While 90% of advisors are targeting a 10-15% average portfolio weighting to alternative and private market investments, actual allocations remain in the low single digits. Global alternative assets under management are expected to reach $24.5 trillions in 2028, representing a forecast annualized growth rate of 8.4% from 2022 to 2028.
The platform is expected to be available to U.S. Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and Independent Broker-Dealers (IBDs) in fall 2024. The initial platform will be available to clients of BNY Pershing.
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (Efama) highlights in its document “The EU Must Adopt a New Deal to Mobilize EU Savings” that, according to the European Commission, more than €600 billion must be invested annually to achieve a successful green transition, as well as additional billions to support the digital transition. In light of this reality, Efama calls for the creation of the necessary investment conditions to address these challenges.
What exactly do these measures to create the “necessary investment conditions” entail? According to Bernard Delbecque, Senior Director at Efama, “a decisive shift in EU policies is needed, particularly in competition and industrial policies, to improve investment opportunities, boost the valuation of Europe-based companies in global stock indices, and increase investments from asset owners into EU companies. Once asset owners see more promising prospects in the EU, they will increase their investments in the region, thereby supporting the financing of the green and digital transitions.”
The report prepared by Efama states that to unlock private investment and finance the EU’s capital needs, it is crucial to leverage the potential of the Single Market and develop an effective Capital Markets Union (CMU) that offers more opportunities and better outcomes for European companies and savers. Additionally, it is imperative to redirect the European Commission’s Retail Investment Strategy to encourage EU citizens to invest more in capital market instruments and promote retirement savings, thereby increasing the pool of available savings to support the EU’s ambitions.
Impact on UCITS Funds
Efama sees addressing these challenges as urgent, as its report demonstrates that this situation is impacting the growing allocation of UCITS assets to U.S. equities, attributing this trend to the superior performance of U.S. stock markets. “By the end of 2023, 44.6% of UCITS equity portfolios were invested in U.S. assets, compared to 19.2% in 2012. The high exposure of European UCITS equity funds to foreign assets is specific to Europe, according to the study. In 2023, equity funds domiciled in the EU and the UK had 27% and 29% of their portfolios invested in local stocks, respectively, compared to 78% and 84% for equity funds in the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region,” the report argues.
The document outlines several factors that may explain the lower domestic bias among European investors, such as the benefits of cross-border investments, the role of financial advisors, the development of fund platforms facilitating investments in funds tracking global indices, the relatively small size of EU stock markets, and the enthusiasm for leading U.S. tech companies.
“The strong performance of U.S. markets, which led to an increased allocation of equity assets to U.S. stocks, reflects a combination of factors and policies, including robust population growth, higher spending on research and development, substantial fiscal stimulus, and lower energy prices,” the report explains.
A Matter of Competitiveness
Efama’s main conclusion is that, to compete effectively on the global stage and foster the emergence of industrial leaders based in Europe, the EU must embark on a transformative path to boost economic growth, improve investment opportunities, generate higher investment returns, and increase the market capitalization of European companies. In their view, these are necessary conditions to attract more investment capital to the EU and ensure that European companies have access to financing throughout their development.
“This, in turn, could initiate a virtuous circle where higher economic growth strengthens asset owners’ confidence in the EU economy, thereby bolstering the ability of asset managers to provide a critical source of stable, long-term financing for European governments, companies, and infrastructure projects,” Efama concludes.
The Brazilian investment fund industry closed August with positive net inflows of 11.7 billion reais (more than 2 billion dollars), according to data from the Brazilian Association of Financial and Capital Market Entities. Cumulatively in 2024, financing has already reached 286.2 billion reais (more than 50 billion dollars), with a strong focus on fixed income funds, which continue to lead resource inflows.
In August, the fixed income class saw a 64.2% increase compared to the same period last year. Pedro Rudge, director of Anbima, attributed this performance to the prospects of maintaining the Selic rate at high levels, which benefits funds in this category. “With the current trajectory of the Selic, fixed income funds should maintain their appeal in the coming months, which is likely to bolster resource flows into this class and sustain the positive performance of the industry,” he stated.
Among fixed income funds, those classified as Low Duration Fixed Income with Investment Grade stood out the most. These funds focus on assets with low credit risk and an average duration of less than 21 business days, primarily investing in federal government bonds.
In addition to fixed income, Credit Rights Investment Funds (FIDC) also performed well, followed by pension funds and Private Equity Investment Funds (FIP).
On the other hand, the multi-market and equity classes showed a negative balance in August. ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) also recorded a negative balance.
In terms of net assets, the fund industry reached 9.3 trillion reais in August, a 15% increase compared to the same month in 2023.
The judicial reform in Mexico seems imminent, and investors have taken precautions in anticipation of what is considered a profound change, the consequences of which—positive or negative—remain uncertain. This week will be decisive, as the reform has already passed without issue through the first of the two legislative chambers, the House of Deputies, where the majority of the ruling party pushed it through.
Markets are unsettled, with the exchange rate holding near 20 pesos per dollar, representing a 21% depreciation compared to the closing rate before the June 2 election. Meanwhile, the country’s main stock exchange continues its erratic trajectory, closing August with a 0.42% drop and accumulating a year-to-date decline of 10.85%.
Julius Baer highlights some expected effects on Mexican markets. One major consequence, should the judicial reform be approved, would be that credit rating agencies could downgrade Mexico next year. Currently, Mexico holds “investment grade” status from the three most important global rating agencies.
Moody’s rates Mexico at Baa2; S&P at BBB; and Fitch Ratings at BBB-. All three agencies have a stable outlook for Mexico’s sovereign debt. Just last Thursday, SURA Investments stated that it did not foresee adjustments to Mexico’s credit rating in the short term, which is understood to mean within the next 12 months.
However, other immediate indicators reflect the risks perceived by the markets regarding the judicial reform. According to Julius Baer, the Mexican peso will remain under pressure, prompting a revision of their year-end forecast for the currency to 20 pesos per dollar. It’s important to note that the peso was trading at 16.53 pesos before the June 2 election.
“The Mexican peso has depreciated 0.24% since Wednesday, surpassing the 20 USD/MXN level. It has weakened by 15% year-to-date against the USD due to fears of a U.S. slowdown, the unwinding of JPY-financed trades, and the constitutional reforms,” their analysis notes.
What Does the Judicial Reform Propose?
The controversial judicial reform proposes that all judges in the country, including those on the Supreme Court, be elected by popular vote in 2025 and 2027. This raises concerns that judicial decisions could eventually be biased toward those who supported the candidates.
Julius Baer warns that although the economic impact is not yet fully clear, markets are concerned about the potential weakening of the rule of law and the concentration of judicial and executive power, which could reduce oversight and accountability.
Just this past weekend, the U.S. newspaper *The Wall Street Journal* reported that U.S. companies had delayed plans to invest around 35 billion dollars in Mexico due to concerns about how the approval of the judicial reform could affect their businesses.
This amount is significant as it is nearly equivalent to Mexico’s average annual foreign direct investment.
UBS International has added Omar Castro and Javier Villanueva to its Coral Gables office, according to a LinkedIn post on Tuesday by Catherine Lapadula, Market Executive of UBS Florida International.
“I’m thrilled to announce that Omar Castro has joined our international division of UBS in Florida and will be based in our Coral Gables office!” Lapadula posted.
The bankers are joining from Merrill Lynch to cover the international market in South Florida.
Castro brings over a decade of experience from firms such as J.P. Morgan Private Bank, where he worked from 2012 to 2018, and Merrill Private Wealth Management, where he served from 2018 until joining the Swiss bank, according to his profile on the corporate social network.
Villanueva, joining alongside Castro, has more than 25 years of experience, having worked at firms including Santander, Banamex, JV Global Capital, and Merrill Lynch.
